Rory McIlroy 'quit PGA Tour players' group chat' after tense Jordan Spieth LIV Golf talks

Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy have had a frosty relationship of late (Image: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy has reportedly left a PGA Tour players' group text chain following remarks by fellow golfer Jordan Spieth about the possible merger with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is connected with LIV Golf.

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Spieth succeeded McIlroy on the PGA Tour Policy Board last November when the latter resigned, voicing his dissatisfaction with tour leadership and stating his desire to spend more time with his family and practising. Spieth also played a vital role in stopping McIlroy from returning to the policy board.

This board has taken lead in negotiations for the tour with PIF, which funds the new challenger - LIV Golf. A framework agreement was established for a merger 11 months ago that would unify professional golf once again, but little headway has been seen since then.

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McIlroy expressed willingness to return to this pivotal position after receiving a proposal from Webb Simpson, winner of the the 2012 US Open, who wished to step down as player director and suggested McIlroy as his successor. But the Northern Irishman confirmed that he will not be rejoining the policy board.

Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth at the Players Championship. (Image: Getty)

McIlroy offered, "I think it got pretty complicated and pretty messy, and I think with the way it happened, I think it opened up some old wounds and scar tissue from things that have happened before," adding: "There was a subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason."

McIlroy has hinted at tensions within the sport's elite circles, suggesting that not all is well between him and some of his fellow top players. Although he refrained from dropping names, it's understood that Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, and even his long-time friend Tiger Woods are less than enthusiastic about McIlroy's potential return to the PGA Tour's decision-making board.

The rift between Cantlay and McIlroy is far from new information, as their frosty relationship was highlighted during a notorious Ryder Cup incident. McIlroy himself acknowledged the tension in an interview with the Irish Independent, candidly stating their relationship is "average at best" and noting, "[We] don't have a ton in common and see the world quite differently."

Meanwhile, McIlroy's once solid friendship with Woods appears to be buckling under the pressure of the ongoing feud between the PGA Tour and the controversial LIV Golf series, leading to what some might call a 'falling out of sorts'. His dynamic with Spieth has also seen better days.

They, along with Viktor Hovland, were part of a contentious round at the Players Championship in March, marked by heated debates over a couple of penalty drops McIlroy took after his tee shots ended up in the water.

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Adding fuel to the fire, McIlroy seemed unimpressed by Spieth's remarks earlier this year when the American golfer suggested that the PGA Tour didn't "need" to enter into a partnership with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) following a lucrative £2.4 billion deal with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), half of which has already been distributed to PGA Tour members as part of an equity scheme.

Spieth remarked: "I think the positive [of a deal with PIF] would be a unification [of PGA Tour and LIV players], but I just think it's something that is almost not even worth talking about right this second," acknowledging his recent appointment to the board after Rory McIlroy stepped down last year. "The idea is that we have a strategic partner that allows the PGA Tour to go forward the way that it's operating right now without anything else."

McIlroy, however, found Spieth's comments counterproductive to ongoing discussions about a potential agreement that could bring PGA Tour and LIV Golf competitors together more frequently. So much so, he exited a text group of PGA Tour players, as reported by Golf Digest.

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The two reportedly had a tense hour-long conversation later to discuss the matter.

At the time, McIlroy expressed his concerns about Spieth's remarks, saying: "My thing was if I'm the original [potential] investor that thought that they were going to get this deal done back in July, and I'm hearing a board member say that we don't really need them now, how are they going to think about that, what are they going to feel about that?

"They are still sitting out there with hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions, that they're going to pour it into sport. And I know what Jordan was saying. But if I were PIF and I was hearing that coming from here, the day after doing this SSG deal, it wouldn't have made me too happy, I guess? ".

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